Melissa Haney

Melissa Haney (born 1981) is an Inuk pilot from Quebec, Canada. She works for Air Inuit, and is noted for being the first female Inuk pilot to reach the rank of captain. In 2017, the Canadian Ninety-Nines released a postage stamp in commemoration of her achievements.

Melissa Haney
Born1981
NationalityInuit, Canadian
OccupationCommercial pilot
Known forFirst female Inuit pilot to become captain
Home townInukjuak, Quebec

Early life
Haney's hometown of Inukjuak, in northern Quebec

Haney was born in 1981.[1] She spent her early years in the community of Inukjuak by Hudson Bay, and as a child, Haney loved going to visit the airport.[2] Planes were an ordinary form of transportation in Haney's community, necessary for travelling to dental and medical appointments in other communities.[1]

When she was eight, Haney moved south to Eastern Townships with her mother, who was a teacher. Haney grew up in Eastern Townships, and finished a year of university at John Abbott College in Montreal. When she was 19, she heard that Air Inuit was looking for new employees. Haney decided it sounded interesting and would provide a chance to get closer to her northern childhood community again.[3]

Career

In 2001, Haney began working with Air Inuit as a flight attendant.[4][5] She soon decided she wanted to fly planes herself.[2] In 2003, Haney took flight lessons in Cornwall, Ontario. The following year, she completed ground school courses with Air Inuit.[3] One of Haney's mentors has been aviator Johnny May, the first Inuk bush pilot in Nunavik.[1] In 2004, Haney began flying Twin Otter aircraft for Air Inuit.[6]

An Air Inuit Dash 8-300Q aircraft

In the summer of 2016, Haney was promoted to captain. When she flew back to Inukjuak in September, several hundred people from her community gathered to meet her at the airport.[5][7]

She now regularly flies a Dash 8 Combi-300, making tight landings on runways that are often just barely long enough for her aircraft.[1]

On August 15, 2017, the Canadian Ninety-Nines released a commemorative postage stamp featuring Haney.[4][2][8] Speaking to reporters, the president of Air Inuit said that Haney "was a role model for all people in Nunavik, whether they're women, whether they're men."[9]

Personal life

Haney is married to another Air Inuit captain named Pierre-Olivier, and the couple has two children.[1]

gollark: Idea: GPL Extreme Edition.
gollark: Including a bunch of undersea links.
gollark: Apparently Google has its own fibre-optic cable network.
gollark: In general, yes.
gollark: Good, keep thinking that.

References
  1. "MELISSA HANEY". canadian99s.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  2. "First female Inuk airline captain gets commemorative stamp". Montreal. 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  3. "NunatsiaqOnline 2016-03-23: NEWS: Flying in the face of tradition: Air Inuit gets its first Inuk woman captain". www.nunatsiaqonline.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  4. "Air Inuit's 1st female Inuk captain lands commemorative stamp". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  5. "Pilot becomes first female Inuk captain for Air Inuit". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  6. Team, iWOAW (2017-04-04). "Melissa Haney". Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide (iWOAW) Symposium. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  7. "NunatsiaqOnline 2016-09-26: NEWS: Nunavik town celebrates a high-flying hometown hero". www.nunatsiaqonline.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  8. "NunatsiaqOnline 2017-08-16: NEWS: Air Inuit pilot featured on new postage stamp". www.nunatsiaqonline.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  9. "Air Inuit's first female Inuk captain honoured in Quebec". CTVNews. 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
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